Trends in poultry farming and feeding technology at EuroTier 2024

Animal health and animal welfare remain key areas of focus for industry.

Feedstuffs Staff

October 22, 2024

5 Min Read
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As in previous years, poultry farmers are currently facing a number of challenges. These include, in particular, further improving animal welfare and animal health. In terms of animal health, ongoing focus must remain on the highly contagious avian influenza. Reducing the use of antibiotics and emissions from poultry farming is also on the to-do list of many companies. Lastly, poultry farmers must cope with higher feed and energy prices.

The trends highlighted are also reflected in the poultry sector innovations found at EuroTier 2024. In addition to innovative developments to improve animal health, exhibitors will also present innovations for rearing and laying hen facilities.

Laying hens are kept for significantly longer

In laying hen farming, considerable efforts have been made to raise the animals with intact beaks while also improving animal welfare. In order to compensate for the high rearing costs, laying hens are kept for significantly longer now and in the future. This can be achieved through breeding companies providing genetics that focus on longer egg-laying longevity, and by improving animal health and management.

Innovations to improve animal health

This year there were several innovations to improve animal health, which were honored with a total of five medals.

Significant development in poultry vaccination

Optimizing vaccination success while improving animal handling is an important prerequisite for long-term husbandry and to avoid vaccine damage. Two innovations were awarded in this context: Agri Advanced Technologies (AAT) has developed Vaccybot, the first fully automatic process for breast vaccination in poultry. This is a new development that revolutionizes poultry vaccination in terms of accuracy and vaccination success. The system enables the simultaneous injection of up to six different vaccines with previously unattainable precision and speed, without holding the animals in your hand. This innovation was therefore awarded gold. The MultiVacc vaccination machine from Big Dutchman International is the first semi-automatic vaccination machine that can simultaneously administer four breast and one wing vaccination in an animal-friendly manner by manually catching the animals and holding them in a specific position against the device. It was therefore awarded silver. Both vaccination processes represent a significant development in the field of poultry vaccination and offer significant improvements in function and process.

Fighting red bird mites without chemicals

The red mite is found in poultry houses all over the world, especially in laying hens. If the mites multiply on a massive scale, animal health and profitability are severely affected. The new technology of the Cold Plasma Mite Trap EX from MIK International is based on combating the mites with a mite trap in which the parasites are exposed to a cold atmospheric pressure plasma. This could reduce the use of acaricides, silicates or antiparasitics in the future and achieve a significant improvement in animal health and profitability. A gold medal was also awarded here.

Higher disinfection performance for hatching eggs

Hatching egg hygiene is also an important factor for the animal health of poultry. The eggytizer from Agri Advanced Technologies (AAT) uses electron beam sterilization technology (eBeam) to disinfect hatching eggs. The process enables a higher disinfection performance than conventional methods and showed a better hatching result in initial trials. The use of this technology is expected to improve chick health and provide an economic advantage while eliminating the need for chemical disinfectants. The eggytizer was therefore awarded silver.

Advanced washing robot for aviaries

Cleaning and disinfecting laying hen houses is a challenge due to the complex and winding systems on various levels. When cleaning manually, some areas are difficult to reach and therefore require a lot of work and the cleaning results are not always satisfactory. The Sharky 430 from Big Dutchman International is an advanced washing robot for cleaning rearing and laying hen houses with aviary systems. The well-known washing robot has been expanded to include a very flexible washing arm that makes it possible to reach all areas in an aviary. This further development was awarded silver.

More animal welfare for laying hens

Raising laying hens with intact beaks and optimally preparing them for the conditions in the laying aviary is a challenge. The Venvomatic Group improved its well-known Bollegg starter rearing aviary for this purpose. Big Dutchman International went a step further by combining the well-known Natura Nova laying aviary with a rearing aviary in which hatching is even possible in the barn. The animals can stay here from hatching to the end of the laying phase, do not have to be transported and do not have to get used to a new system and a new barn. This system could significantly reduce the stress on the animals and contribute to better animal welfare.

Ergonomic seat bar

Perches are an important element in housing systems for laying hens, as the animals sleep on the perches at night and rest on them during the day. They also have to be easy to grip so that they can land safely. The company BARKU Barnsdorfer Kunststofftechnik has developed a new ergonomic plastic perch for laying hens, which is flattened at the top and has bars to prevent slipping when landing. The perch is also made from recycled, high-quality plastic.

Larval snacks for chicks

In the first few weeks of their lives, chicken chicks naturally eat mainly insects and worms. To keep the animals occupied and at the same time provide them with high-quality protein, the company WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp has developed "ProBar - The Larvae Snack Bar" for poultry. Here, a few live larvae are gently dispensed at certain intervals.

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Feedstuffs Staff

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